Early evening at a plain courtyard house high in a hill town: seven plain wooden posts in one row hold up a shade roof over a low table set for a meal, with nobody at it, under a calm pale sky.

Wisdom calls

Proverbs 9

Two doors stand open tonight. Both say come in. Only one meal is what it looks like.

18 verses≈ 3 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–7The father's talksWhy the book exists, then a father to his son
8–9Wisdom callsHer house and Folly'sChapter 9
10–22:16Solomon's sayingsTwo lines at a time
22:17–24The sayings of the wiseThirty sayings, and a few more
25–29Hezekiah's collectionMore of Solomon, copied out later
30AgurNumbered sayings from a weary man
31LemuelA mother's words, and the noble wife

The Way of Wisdom

Wisdom has built her house;

she has carved out her seven pillars.

She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;

she has also set her table.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

She has sent out her maidservants;

she calls out from the heights of the city.

Wisdom

Dusk from a road outside: an open courtyard door high in a town lets warm lamplight fall over the stone threshold and onto the road, bread on a table just visible within.

“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

she says to him who lacks judgment.

“Come, eat my bread

and drink the wine I have mixed.

Leave your folly behind, and you will live;

walk in the way of understanding.”

0:13

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Reflect

At the door

The meal is free, and one thing stays outside. What folly would you need to leave at the door?

He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself;

he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself.

Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you;

rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still;

teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Proverbs 9:10

For through wisdom your days will be multiplied,

and years will be added to your life.

If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage;

but if you scoff, you alone will bear the consequences.

Question

Quick question

Two voices call from the heights of the city, and they open alike.

Wisdom and Folly call out with the same words. Which words?

The Way of Folly

Dusk high in a town: an empty stone seat beside a house door that stands as a dark gap, with a road passing below and a few people going by.

The woman named Folly is loud;

she is naive and knows nothing.

She sits at the door of her house,

on a seat in the heights of the city,

calling out to those who pass by,

who make their paths straight.

Folly

“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

she says to him who lacks judgment.

Folly

But they do not know that the dead are there,

that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

Two houses

Whiteboard

Two invitations, one reader. The first nine chapters end here, at two tables.

Pray

What truly feeds

Ask God for a hunger for what truly feeds. Name one thing that has looked sweet in secret, and ask for the fear of the LORD to see where it leads. Thank Him that the table is still set.

You’ve experienced

Proverbs 9

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A verse to carry with you

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Proverbs 9:10

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